Less than four hours later, the front doorbell clanged five times quickly in succession, jerking Dom and his wife, Terri, from sleep.

Staff Writer

Maria Tiberi, 21, of Dublin, an Ohio State senior who was killed in the year 2013 in a crash involving distracted driving. CONTRIBUTED

“As I walked down the hall, I looked out the window and saw seven policemen standing on my front porch,” Tiberi emotionally recalled.

In 2013, Maria Elizabeth Tiberi was one of 3,154 people killed nationally in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“In a blink of an eye, it can be over,” he said.

Following the deadly crash, the Tiberis started The Maria Tiberi Foundation and have donated 44 driving simulators. As part of the foundation’s work, Dom Tiberi has visited 84 high schools, speaking to students.

Dom Tiberi, a sports anchor at WBNS-TV in Columbus, described the emotional words last said to his daughter, a graphic design major, before she left their home.

“My wife said, ‘I love you Maria.’ And she said ‘I love you more,’” Tiberi recalled.

“And that was the last time we heard her voice.”

Staff Writer

WBNS-TV sports anchor Dom Tiberi, of Dublin, Ohio, with his daughter, Maria, who was killed in what is believed to be a distracted driving crash on Interstate 270 in September 2013. Dom and Terri Tiberi afterwards started a foundation dedicated to driving education and safety in their daughter’s name. CONTRIBUTED

Maria was killed when the Toyota Corolla she was driving crashed into the rear of a stopped semi truck trailer on Interstate 270 at more than 50 mph. The crash in Hilliard happened three miles from the family’s house in Dublin, just several minutes after she left.

To this day, no one knows precisely why.

“We don’t know,” he said. “We wish we did. But clearly something happened for her to run into the back of a semi-truck at 53 mph.”

The number of accidents involving distracted driving have increased in the past two years. In 2016, there were 13,999 wrecks involving distracted driving compared to 13,271 in 2015.

“One of the lasting effects of this is, the emotional security blanket that we all have, by telling ourselves that something bad won’t happen to us — all that is taken away,” said Sharon Montgomery, whose husband John died in 2000 six weeks after a collision involving a distracted driver in Johnstown, Ohio.

“If she had been going a little bit faster, who knows what would have happened? It’s frightening.”

The driving simulators donated by the Tiberi Foundation have virtual driving stations with visual monitors — which they purchase in bulk at about $15,000 each, thanks to contributions. One was recently placed with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office, Tiberi said.

The simulators simulate drunk and distracted driving and force users at some point to text and drive, to get a feel for the dangers and lack of control inherent in distracted and drunk driving.

“It’s an emotional thing,” Tiberi said of speaking to high-schoolers. “You can hear a pin drop. It’s pretty impactful. And I think they’re getting it.”